Audiology Service

What to do if you have concerns

If you think your child has a hearing loss, speak to your carer, nursery, playgroup or school know about your concerns. They may be able to help by offering information about your child’s behaviour and how your child responds in other settings. It can sometimes help to ask other family members if there is any family history of hearing loss. Sometimes your child’s hearing may be affected for a few weeks with a cough, cold or earache. This usually resolves spontaneously, but if symptoms persist, a hearing test is recommended.

If you are concerned that your child’s speech, language or communication skills are delayed or disordered, you can access the speech and language early advice sessions. Speech and language therapists sometimes refer children for hearing tests before they start therapy.

What will happen at your appointment

• One of our team will call you and your child from the waiting room and take you to the test room. If you have to bring your other children with you, it's helpful if you can bring another adult to look after them while we test.
• We will give your child a chance to settle in the room with some toys and books, whilst you can discuss your concerns and the reasons for referral with the clinician. 
• We will then carry out some game based hearing tests to determine how well your child is hearing, followed by looking in their ears. There will normally be 2 testers to test the hearing of a child if they are under 4 years old. The type of tests we use will depend on the age and developmental stage of your child.
• We will look into your child's ears, if they allow us, in order to check they are healthy. We will also use a machine called a Tympanometer to check if there is any fluid in the middle ear. 
• We will explain the results of all the tests to you at the end of the appointment and make a plan with you about the next steps depending on the results. 

Download this comic for primary school aged children explaining what will happen when they go to a hearing clinic.

Professionals - referral forms and guidance

We provide assessments for children based in Cambridge, South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire. 

Referrals to the clinic should be made via the Sensory Support Service run by Cambridgeshire County Council, or by the child's ophthalmologist. 

Any child or young person aged 0 to 25, who has a medically diagnosed hearing loss (who uses/will use audiological equipment) and/or vision impairment (which cannot be corrected by glasses) can be referred.

Audiology services in Huntingdon and Chatteris are provided by Hinchingbrooke Hospital. In Fenland the service is provided by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn. In March the service is provided by Peterborough or Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

Please select the appropriate referral form below.